2 HIS LORDSHIP'S PATRONAGE

fortunes no Soul & very mean Capacities. " ³ As early as 1692
Colonel Henry Jowles was denounced for " basely deserting...
their Majesty's Service... as one of their Council... and taking
upon him... the Office... of a County Clerk. " ⁴ For indeed, as
Governor Calvert was to discover, "such men as ought to be
chosen [to the Council], are not Easily got, and few men Care
for an Empty Honour attended with trouble without some
recompense. "⁵

After 1661 persons "obstinately refusing" to serve on the
county bench might be fined, and although the act was not long
enforced, some early cases are on record. ⁶ " Judges of the County
Courts, " wrote John Ridout a century later, " are... appointed
... out of the principal Gentlemen of each County that are
willing to act for... many Gentlemen decline it.... " As
for the provincial bench, " Were there... handsome Sallaries
settled on the Judges... some of the most eminent Lawyers
may probably... be induced to quit their Practice... but as
these Judges are... allowed Nothing for their Attendance...
except about Eight Shillings Sterling a Day... no Gentleman
that has any practice... will choose to qualify... nor is it
without difficulty that other Gentlemen of Capacity are prevailed
on to act.... " ⁷

Quite different was the feeling of the upper classes toward
those other posts, from that of governor down to deputy surveyor-
ships, which were true places of profit. These were eagerly sought
because they were more or less valuable.

Their worth, however, depended on a variety of circumstances.

First there was the question of revenue. One could live like a

gentleman and support a small family on perhaps £ 150 a year. ⁸

³ Horatio Sharpe to Lord Baltimore, June 6, 1754 (Ibid., VI, 68).

⁴ Ibid., VIII, 424.

⁵ Benedict Leonard Calvert to Lord Baltimore, Oct. 26, 1729 (Calvert Papers,
H, "Fund Publication No. 34, " [Baltimore, Md. Historical Society. 1894] p 80

⁶ Cf.. Archives, XX, 225.

⁷ Portfolio No. 2, Folder 7b, sec. 14 (Hall of Records, Annapolis). Ridout,

writing in 1763, was Governor Sharpe's private secretary, was a member of the

Council, and held several places of profit. Cf. the case of Lt. Col. John Bigger

1699 (Archives, XXV, 75), and chapter VI, note 32.

⁸ William Eddis, at the end of the colonial period, concluded " that by prudent

management a respectable appearance may be supported in Maryland on terms

infinitely more reasonable than in most parts of the mother country.... " (Letters

from America... from 1769 to 1777... (London, 1792], 34). In 1754 Gov.

Sharpe considered £ 150 sterling a year sufficient provision for His Lordship's